Parliamentary Committee Notes: Firearms Buyback Program
Proposed Response:
- Too many Canadians have been affected by senseless acts of gun violence in communities across our country. That is why the Government of Canada has adopted a comprehensive approach to firearm control, including investing in policing, border enforcement, and community gang prevention strategies.
- An important part of this strategy is prohibiting assault-style firearms. While the Government recognizes and supports the continued legal and safe ownership of firearms for hunting and recreation, assault-style firearms have been used in many of Canada’s mass shootings over the past 40 years. Their inherent deadliness makes them unsuitable for civilian use and a serious threat to public safety, which is why in May 2020, this Government introduced a prohibition that now covers approximately 2,000 models and variants.
- A number of paths currently exist for impacted owners to come into compliance and remove prohibited firearms from Canadian communities. The goal of the Buyback Firearms Compensation Program is to make fair compensation available and accessible to every individual and business owner in legal possession of firearms and devices banned in May 2020.
- An Amnesty Order was established to protect lawful owners from criminal liability while they take steps to comply with the law.
- The Government is taking the time to get it right and to design a program that is user-friendly, safe, efficient and provides impacted firearms owners and businesses across the country every opportunity to dispose of their prohibited firearms and benefit from compensation.
- It is important for the Program to support the needs and interests of our various partners to protect the public from gun violence while recognizing the interests of hunters, and in particular, Indigenous hunters. We will continue to engage impacted owners, especially Indigenous partners, to understand and appreciate their unique interests and ensure they are considered in the design and implementation of the Program.
- Some provinces have expressed opposition to the Program. Recently, Alberta and Saskatchewan enacted legislation that aims to strengthen each province's ability to regulate aspects of municipal and private sector involvement.
- The Government remains committed to working with all provinces and territories, including Alberta and Saskatchewan, municipalities and Indigenous partners to arrive at a mutually satisfactory solution to remove assault-style firearms from our communities while ensuring the safety and interests of Canadians.
- We want to give every impacted individual and business access to compensation and offer choices on how to participate, to support compliance with regulations and ensure they are not left in possession of a prohibited firearm after the Amnesty Order expires.
- Details on this important initiative, including how to participate, will be communicated to Canadians in due course.
Firearms Buyback Program
Background
In the 2019, 2020, and 2021 Speeches from the Throne and the associated mandate letters to the Minister of Public Safety and Minister of Justice and Attorney General, the Government committed to a broad gun control agenda that included banning assault-style firearms (ASFs) and establishing a federal buyback program (FBP) for the newly prohibited firearms.
Since May 1, 2020, the Government prohibited almost 2,000 makes and models of ASFs, their variants, and some upper receivers with an amendment to the Regulations Prescribing Certain Firearms and Other Weapons, Components and Parts of Weapons, Accessories, Cartridge Magazines, Ammunition and Projectiles as Prohibited, Restricted or Non-Restricted (the Regulations) by an Order in Council (May 1, 2020 OIC). Of those, nine principal models of ASFs are prohibited as they have semi-automatic action with sustained rapid-fire capability (i.e., tactical military design with large magazine capacity), are of modern design, and are present in Canada in large volumes. Also included are firearms with a bore diameter of 20 mm or greater (i.e., grenade launcher); or with a muzzle energy of greater than 10,000 joules (e.g., 0.50 caliber BMG sniper rifles). Approximately 19,500 rifles and shotguns suitable for hunting remain available.
The prohibition limits access to the most dangerous firearms and removes them from the Canadian market. An Amnesty Order under the Criminal Code came into force at the same time as the amendments to the Regulations and, on March 4, 2022, was extended to October 30, 2023, to protect lawful ASF owners and businesses from criminal liability and to allow them time to come into compliance with the law. The amnesty also provides a temporary exception for Indigenous persons exercising s.35 Constitutional rights to hunt, and to allow for continued use of newly prohibited firearms (if previously non-restricted) until a suitable replacement can be found.
The 2021 Speech from the Throne and mandate letter for the Minister of Public Safety reiterated the commitment of the Government to make it mandatory for owners to dispose of their ASFs, including by surrendering them to the Government for the purposes of destruction or having them deactivated at the Government’s expense.
The total number of affected ASFs is estimated to be approximately 150,000. Of these, 110,292 were formerly classified as restricted. This represents approximately 80 per cent of restricted rifles in Canada (most restricted firearms are handguns), the majority of which are located, in descending order, in Ontario (41 per cent), Alberta (20 per cent), and British Columbia (18 per cent). The remaining approximately 39,708 ASFs were previously classified as non-restricted. This is an estimate since non-restricted firearms do not need to be registered and therefore their total volume in Canada is unknown. This estimation is based on open-source records from 2012, which have been increased by 25 per cent to account for observable trends in market growth. Approximately 9,000 ASFs (6 per cent of the total) are owned by businesses, not individuals. Industry estimates that formerly non-restricted firearms exist in volumes approximately tenfold the government estimates, and these figures were adopted in a 2021 analysis performed by the Parliamentary Budget Office. The variance is most likely attributable to differences in calculation methodologies employed to estimate the number of formerly non-restricted ASFs (i.e., open source records versus a survey of current and historical import permits issued to industry members).
During the amnesty period including throughout the implementation of the program, owners may still choose to dispose of their affected ASFs and prohibited devices (i.e., upper receivers of the M16, AR-10, AR-15 and M4 pattern ASFs) in the ways set out in the Order. For example, affected owners can surrender them to police for no compensation, deactivate them at their own expense, export them, or, if a business, return them to the manufacturer. Prohibited ASFs cannot imported, or sold in Canada, and can only be used (i.e., exercise of s.35 Constitution Act, 1982 Indigenous right to hunt), transported or transferred within Canada under certain conditions.
Contacts:
Prepared by: [REDACTED], Senior Policy Advisor, Firearms Program Sector, [REDACTED] (Summer 2023)
Reviewed and updated by: [REDACTED], Policy Director, Firearms Program Sector (October 2023)
Approved by: Greg Kenney, Assistant Deputy Minister, Firearms Program Sector, [REDACTED] (Summer 2023)
Update reviewed and approved by [REDACTED], Assistant Deputy Minister (Acting), October 10, 2023
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